Scimitar - Morphology

Morphology

The curved sword, the sabre, is called muhaddab in Arabia and occurred after the Turkish Seljuk migration from Central Asia to Anatolia, popularizing the pre-existing Byzantine sabre designs for cavalry use, which influenced the entire region. The word shamshir is Persian and refers to a straight-edged sword as well as to a curved-edged sword, depending on the era of usage.

The Indian talwar is a sword similar to the shamshir, with the exception of a broader blade, mild curve and a disk shaped pommel which provides a very secure grip. The sword is made from very hard wootz steel. The word “tulwar” literally means “sword” in Urdu/Hindi. The tulwar is unusual in that it can be used for thrusting as well as cutting.

The kilij is a scimitar used by the Turks and the Ottoman Empire; it appeared around the 15th century. The kilij is a unique kind of scimitar that has a slight taper down the straight of the blade until the last third of the sword, when it angles sharply and becomes deeper. After the First Barbary War, a bejeweled kilij was presented to the commanding Marine officer, thus beginning the tradition of granting, to all United States Marine Corps officers, the right to carry the ceremonial weapon as part of that tradition.

The Moroccan nimcha is a scimitar used in the late 18th century, and is usually forged using the blades of older swords, dating from as early as the 17th century, and with blades from countries as distant as Germany. This created a wide variety of nimcha, and almost no two are the same.

The Afghan pulwar is similar in blade design to the tulwar, but the cross guard on the pulwar angles in towards the blade to catch swords. Many pulwar hilts are engraved with ornamental inscriptions and designs.